


Trust

by tamaranianprincess



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Enhanced Reader, F/M, Gen, Hydra, M/M, Metahuman Reader, Minor Bruce Banner/Thor, Mutant Reader, Protective Bucky Barnes, Reader-Insert, Suggestive Themes, bucky barnes/female reader - Freeform, minor peter parker & tony stark - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-07-27 07:55:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16214753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tamaranianprincess/pseuds/tamaranianprincess
Summary: You meet Bucky while on a mission with Steve and Natasha to bring him back to the States. But you accidentally make an unexpected connection with him.Some chapters may be slow to go up, but I promise I'm working on it!





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU, Bucky wasn’t the one who killed Tony’s parents, and the Accords were dealt with in a proper manner which I will lightly get into at some point. This takes place after Homecoming so Peter is included. Also, the reader’s powers are based around Starfire and Raven from Teen Titans, but I also tweaked them and such so they’re not completely the same. Also, I KNOW THIS FIRST CHAPTER IS KINDA SHIT BUT I PROMISE THIS IS GOING SOMEWHERE.
> 
> Follow me on tumblr! @/tamaranianprincess
> 
> Happy reading!

“Okay, you’re clear to enter the building.” You hear Natasha in your ear as you walk behind Steve towards the dingy apartment building across the street. Natasha was perched on a building across the street keeping an eye out in case Steve’s friend returned early, as well as for anyone else who could make this meeting go south.

Luckily you didn’t catch anyone’s attention, both you and Steve were dressed casually; him in jeans, white tennis shoes, a blue t-shirt, a loose-fitting black jacket and a baseball cap; and you in skinny jeans, red converse, a black sweatshirt that was too big for you, and your hair cascaded around your face in an attempt to hide your face.

The plan was to get into Bucky’s (Steve had told you his name was James, but Steve called him Bucky) apartment before he came home. You would hide in the corner of the ceiling using your ability to fly, and Steve would be the one to talk to Bucky. You were only there to keep Bucky at bay if he became combative.

An hour went by after you entered the residence when Natasha spoke up, “He’s walking up the street.”

“Copy that.” Steve nodded to you and you quietly floated up to the darkened corner of the room behind the door, in the hopes Bucky wouldn’t see you there when he walked in.

“He’s walking into the building.” Natasha spoke into the comms. You curled into yourself to make yourself smaller on instinct. You looked at Steve, who was in the opposite corner of the room, and though to anyone else he looked calm, you knew better. He was on edge and nervous as hell.

Suddenly the door handle began to shake and when you heard the lock give, a tall man walked in. He was brunet, wearing jeans, a leather jacket, gloves, and a hat, but that was all you could see.

He caught sight of Steve immediately and slowly shut the door behind him.

“Do you know me?” Steve asked, taking a cautious step forward.

The man, Bucky, you figured, took a moment before answering, “You’re Steve. I read about you in a museum.”

Steve sighed, “I know you’re nervous, and you have plenty of reason to be,” A beat, “But you’re lying.”

The man took a deep breath, “Why are you here?”

Steve took another tentative step, “You’ve been pardoned by the UN. Nobody is looking for you anymore. I want you to come with me. I know people who say they can get rid of the Soldier, you can be free, Buck.”

Bucky didn’t relax, but he seemed to be thinking about the offer when his body immediately went rigid. More than it already was, and Steve noticed.

“Buck? What’s wrong?”

Bucky’s eye quickly flicked around the room before he grabbed a gun out of his belt, spun on his heels, and pointed it at you, all in one swift motion.

Luckily you saw his hand twitch before it happened and instantly dropped to the ground, and using your powers threw up a green shield in front of you, the irises of your eyes illuminating a bright emerald green.

“Bucky stop! She’s with me!” Steve grabbed Bucky’s arm and pulled him back, “She’s part of my team, she’s a friend.”

Bucky looked at you with wide eyes, like he was terrified, and you knew that you looked quite intimidating like this, so in an attempt to get the man to trust you, you pulled your energy back in. Your shield dissipated and your eyes returned to their normal shade of (Y/E/C).

It may have been a dumb move, and Steve was sure you lecture you about it later because the gun was still trained on you (albeit not at your head anymore), but you began to slowly step forward towards Bucky. You tucked your hair behind your ears  to show your face, and smiled. Reaching out, you gently pushed the gun down. You looked into Bucky’s eyes, which were a brilliant shade of slate blue, and felt something inside you shift.

You felt like suddenly your soul needed his, and you hadn't even properly met the man.

“Hi,” You spoke, “I am (Y/N). It is nice to finally meet Steve’s best friend.” He stared at you, and after a moment he completely lowered the gun, which Steve gladly took and attached to his belt. You smiled warmly at him and spoke again, “I apologize, I did not mean to startle you.”

“We have a problem,” Came Natasha’s voice, “There are some shady looking guys coming towards the building and they just scream HYDRA. Not to mention one of them has that stupid fucking tattoo on their neck.”

“Damn it!” Steve all but yelled, startling Bucky.

“What?”

“Hang on Buck, Natasha, can you get to the car?” Steve was pacing. Right now you were the only weapon in the room (besides the gun, but you had a feeling Steve wasn’t going to use that because in all likelihood it was probably stolen). You all weren’t planning on being intercepted by HYDRA. It came up as a factor, but a highly unlikely one. Bucky was a weapon, but it was clear to everyone not to let him fight. Nobody wanted the Winter Soldier to accidentally let loose.

“Yeah, give me a minute. I’ve been made and have two coming to me.”

“Guys, what’s going on?” Bucky was obviously nervous.

You turned to him and looked him in the eyes, “HYDRA men are here. We need to leave.”

Then suddenly there was pounding at the door and yelling in Russian. Bucky was stock still and stared at the door in fear.

Wanting to get his attention back to you, you gently placed your hand on his right arm, knowing from what Steve told you that his left arm was metal and you didn’t know if he could feel touch or not, “James, do you trust me?”

He looked at you, and you smiled at him, encouraging him to follow you.

“Come on guys!” Steve yelled from the window that he had quite literally just tore open, “We have to leave now!”

You looked back to Bucky, who gave a slight nod. You smiled and took his hand, pulling him to the window Steve had just jumped out of. You shot your energy out the window to catch him, making sure he landed safely. You turned to Bucky, but before you had a chance to get him out, the door gave in and 4 men rushed into the place with guns.

“Там солдат! Убить девочку!” One of them yelled. You felt Bucky tense and you quickly felt the familiar heat in your eyes take place as you threw a green energy bolt at the men, successfully knocking them all down.

“James, I know this is scary, but I need you to crawl out of the window and when I tell you to, I need you to jump.”

His head whipped toward you, “What??”

“Солдаты! Ты пойдешь с нами!” You heard from behind you, and you turned to throw another energy bolt at the men who were scrambling to get up again.

“James, please, I will catch you, I promise.” You beg.

“желание!” One of them shouts, and you see Bucky grab his head.

“Shit.” You whisper. You knew that word. Steve taught it to you, along with several others. It was the first word in the line of Bucky’s trigger words. You didn’t have anymore time.

“Ржавый!” Bucky groaned loudly and slammed his head on the window sill.

“James, look at me!” You screamed at him from where you stood, only 4 feet from him, and he turned his head slightly towards you, “Jump, now!” He looked at you with a terrified and pained expression, and then quickly jumped out of the window, but not before anger took over you and you whipped around to the men in front of you. You raised your hands and let the energy around them become that of a lethal state, the tendrils growing, before shooting out at a lighting fast speed and piercing each one of them through the heart.

You then turned and shot out of the building, quickly wrapping Bucky in a much lighter form of the tendrils that left your fingers just moments ago, catching him midair. You noticed his rapid breathing, noting that he was on the verge on panicking.

“James, it is alright. You are not falling. I have you.” You set him down on the sidewalk, and ushered him into the car.

“Drive.” You heard Steve order from the front, and that was all Natasha needed to speed out of that that city.

You curled yourself into your legs, trying to take steadying breaths.

“(Y/N)?” You looked up and saw Steve looking back at you from the front, worry etched on his face, “Are you okay?”

“I am fine.” You say shortly, and dropped your head back into your hands.

You hear a sigh, this time Natasha spoke, “(Y/N), you need to take a deep breath, calm down. You’re doing really well at controlling yourself. We can’t really afford to have you melt down in the car.”

You took a few more deep breaths before you felt pressure on your knee. Looking between your fingers you saw a metal hand placed there. You peaked at Bucky, who was looking at you with an expression you couldn’t read, but you could swear you saw a hint of understanding.

You continued to look into his eyes, caught in them once again, when you felt the heat leave yours, letting you know that your energy had settled down and you were now under control.

You looked back down at your knee, and wrapped your flesh hand around his metal one.

“Thank you,” He said in a low, gravelly voice, “For catching me.”

Looking back up at him, you smiled warmly at him.

“Thank you for trusting me.”


	2. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be explaining past events as flashbacks for background as the story continues, this will be written in italics. Some details are purposely left out, but will come to light later in the story. If things don’t make sense or you have an idea for the story, please comment!

You were hovering in the common room in front of the large floor-to-ceiling windows. Your eyes were closed and you were attempting to meditate, it helped you keep your powers in check. But your mind kept going in circles. 

_ You were curled up in your bed, curled up and hugging a pillow to your chest. Your cheeks were stained with tears and your chest was still in pain from your panic attack you were still recovering from.  _

_ You heard your door open and close, but you didn’t bother to look at your guest, you knew who it was. _

_ There was a sudden weight on the bed, and a large hand began carding through your hair.  _

_ “Wanna talk about it?” Came Steve’s voice from behind you.  _

_ You took a deep breath to try and steady your voice, “No, but I have a feeling you are going to make me talk anyways.” _

_ He chuckled, “You’re not wrong.” _

_ You took a few more steadying breaths. You weren’t quite sure where to start. You figured he knew what happened, or at least knew what you did. After all, he would have spoken to the authorities in Bucharest after you all left. _

_ You turned so that you were facing him, but didn’t make eye contact, “It happened again.” _

_ You saw him nod in your peripheral vision, his hands still carding through your hair, “What happened again?” _

_ Damn it. You knew he knew what you meant. But you didn’t want to say it out loud, so you tried just brushing the topic. You should have known better. This was Steve, and he was going to make you talk about it. _

_ “I lost control.” Your voice broke at the end. _

_ You saw him nod again, “Do you know why?” _

_ Sighing, you took another steadying breath, “I was trying to get James-” _

_ “Bucky.” _

_ “Is that really important right now?” _

_ “He wants you to call him Bucky, just trying to break the habit.” Steve smiled down at you. _

_ You took a deep breath, slightly annoyed, and continued, “I was trying to get  _ Bucky  _ out of the building while trying to hold back the HYDRA men, but then one of them started shouting Bucky’s trigger words and I panicked. I do not know why. But I did. But the panic was not for me. He was in pain, and he was scared, and I was angry that these men believed that they were entitled to do such things. So I snapped, and that feeling took over and I killed them.” _

_ You were nearing another panic attack, your breaths coming in short pants and heart rate picking up when Steve spoke, “(Y/N), you need to calm down, take a breath,” he grabbed your hand and held it to his chest, “Breathe with me. You’re going to make yourself sick.” _

_ “I am sorry.” You choked out, “I did not mean to lose control. I was doing so well. It has not happened in months. I just, I could not let them-” _

_ “(Y/N), stop. Nobody is upset. If Natasha were there she would have killed them too. And believe me, I do understand that when it comes to war sacrifices need to be made. But not at the expense of losing control of your powers. More than just the enemy can get hurt. People can get caught in the crossfire. Civilians and teammates alike.” _

_ Guilt pooled in your stomach and tears began falling again. _

_ “Hey,” Steve whispered, “Beating yourself up over it isn’t going to change anything. Let’s just be glad nobody else got hurt, move on, and work on it from here. Okay?” _

_ After a few minutes, your panic began to subside and you nodded, letting Steve know you understood. _

_ “Good, now come out to the common room. Peter’s been asking for you all day. Something about an idea for Spidey’s Insta. Whatever the hell that means.” _

Without warning you were pulled out of your memories and jerked back into reality by the sudden grip of a  hand on arm. Breaking the concentration of levitating, your feet dropped to the floor, your knees caving under you, but the firm grip on your bicep held you up.

“Damn it!” You looked up to see a more than smug Tony Stark holding back a laugh, “Tony! Do not do that!” You gripped your chest with your right hand, forcing yourself to breathe.

He smirked down at you, “Sorry, I kept calling for you, but you wouldn’t answer. I debated throwing a pillow at you but I figured you would startle, which I was right about by the way, and I didn’t want you to bust your ass.”

“So I am to thank you?” You retorted, feeling your heat return to its normal, steady pace.

“Well yeah, duh.”

“Thank you for my heart attack, Tony.” You flashed a smile and brushed past him, walking towards the couch, “Was there something that you needed me for?”

“Yeah, I wanted to know what you wanted for dinner.” Tony said as he plopped on the couch next to you.

You cocked your head at him and looked at your watch, “It is only two o’clock?” 

He just waved his hand in a dismissing manner, beginning to type away on his phone, “Yeah, but they’re all arguing already. Half of them want pizza and half of them want Chinese. They said they would go with whatever you chose.”

You thought for a moment, debating and weighing the options before deciding, “I could just make dinner, it will give me something to do and everyone likes when I cook anyways. That way nobody gets their feelings hurt.”

Tony looked up from his phone at you and furrowed his brows, “You’re too nice for your own good, you do realize that, right?”

You only shrugged, and got up to head to the kitchen, “I should get started, it takes a while to make enough to feed an entire team of superheroes.” 

Tony followed behind you and jumped up on the counter, picking up an apple from the bowl, “Oh that reminds me. Steve is coming back with Bucky this evening.” 

That caused your movements to stutter and the bowl you had in your hand slipped from your grasp. You fumbled with it for a few seconds before you had it securely in your hands again.

“Oh? I was not aware they would be getting back so early.” You tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear and set the bowl on the counter, keeping your eyes purposely away from Tony’s.

There was a slight pause, “Uh, yeah. Except it’s not early, today’s when they were scheduled to come back.” You could hear the amusement in Tony’s voice, and you absolutely refused to turn around to face him.

“Oh, I must have forgotten.” You could actually feel his eyes bore into the back of your head and you felt blood rush to your face.

“Uh huh,” Another pause, “Welp!” He clapped his hands effectively making you jump, “I’m gonna let the others know about dinner. You have fun now. Try not to drop anything else.”

You snapped your head towards him and caught him giving you a knowing smirk and a wink before walking off towards the elevator.

Letting out a large huff, you forced your mind off of Bucky coming back, and focused on your task at hand.

***

“Man, I don’t care what you say. Tangled is so much better than Frozen.” Sam argued.

“It’s not! Frozen is far superior to Tangled. They didn’t need a prince to save them, it wasn’t true love’s kiss that saved Anna, it was the love Elsa had for her sister. That’s some next level shit!” Clint ranted on.

“Nuh uh. Elsa put everyone in danger by secluding herself and bottling up her powers and then blowing up. Rapunzel embraced her powers and she also knew not to fall in love with someone the first day she met them-”

You laughed at the collective groan you heard from the living room. Checking the time, it was nearing 5:00. The lasagnas had another half hour to bake and you had to keep an eye on the clock so you could put the garlic bread in at the right time so everything would be done together.

“Hey.” You felt a poke in your side and looked up to find Wanda leaning against the counter next to you.

“Hello.”

She grabbed one of the dishes you had washed and began drying, “So,”

You looked up at her to see she had a smug look on her face. That was never good, “So?”

“Rumor has it you have a crush on the new guy.”

And again, the object you were holding slipped from your hands and fell into the sink, making a loud CRASH against the rest of the dishes. Everyone looked over at the two of you.

“Sorry, I dropped a bowl. My bad.” You felt your cheeks redden in embarrassment as everyone’s eyes lingered on you a little longer before they went back to their previous conversations.

You turned and hissed at Wanda, “Who told you? I have not even told anyone!” You directed your attention back to cleaning the spoon that you now had in your hands.

She shrugged, “Nobody told me, your mind is very loud when you’re nervous.” Wanda grinned, still looking at the dish she was drying off.

You groaned, leaning down and placing your head on your arms against the sink.

“You have a crush on Bucky??” You heard a whisper from behind you, and whipped around to see Peter hanging from a web with a large smile on his face.

Rolling your eyes, you flicked his forehead, “Um, ow!”

“Curse you two and your stupid enhanced abilities that limit my privacy.”

“Peter! What did I say about hanging from webs in the house?” Tony called from the living room.

“Sorry!” Peter dropped to the floor and walked to your other side, but before he could ask anything else, the elevator doors opened, and out stepped Steve and Bucky.

Oh dear God, didn’t they have enhanced hearing too??


	3. Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be explaining past events as flashbacks for background as the story continues, this will be written in italics. Some details are purposely left out, but will come to light later in the story. Also, I paired Thor x Bruce in this fic because I honestly think they’re cute. Their pairing is lightly mentioned and not a large part of the story, but if that bothers you then please don’t continue to read this story. If things don’t make sense or you have an idea for the story, please comment!

Everybody turned to look at the two super-soldiers standing in front of the elevator. Bucky was slightly behind Steve with his gaze on the floor.

Steve sighed, “Could you guys not freak him out by looking at him like he’s the new kid at school?” 

“Why don’t you introduce us? Are you joining us for dinner?” Tony stood up and began walking towards the pair, spouting off questions per usual.

“Tony…” Steve warned. 

He held his hands up in a defensive manner, “Hey, I just want to meet him. I’d like to know the guy staying in my compound.”

Steve’s jaw tightened but Bucky stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder, “It’s okay Steve, I’m not going to spontaneously combust or anything.” He gave a half smile before turning to Tony, “James Buchanan Barnes, but I go by Bucky. Thanks for letting me stay here.”

Tony looked at Bucky for a moment, as if trying to read him before extending his hand to meet Bucky’s already outstretched one, “Nice to meet you Bucky. I’m Tony Stark, in case that wasn’t evident. And it’s no problem. Plenty of room. Steve will give you the rundown of the place after dinner. I mean, that is if you want to join us. (Y/N) is making homemade lasagna and garlic bread,” He gestured to you, who was currently helping Wanda put the mixing dishes away while Peter was pulling out plates and silverware. You looked up and met Bucky’s eyes before Tony continued, “But you two have already met, so I suppose we should get you introduced to everyone else as well.”

Tony turned to the rest of the crowd in the room and began to list everyone off one by one, “The one with the blonde hair braiding the ginger’s hair is Clint. The ginger is Natasha, but you’ve also met her. The guy next to them with the book is Sam. The big guy in the corner seat is Thor, and the smaller guy sitting in front of him is Bruce. They’re kind of a thing. The guy sitting on the end of that couch there is James, but he goes by Rhodey which should make things less confusing for the both of you. 

“The redish-purple-looking guy with the yellow jewel in his head is Vision. He and Wanda,” Tony turned back to the kitchen, “The crazy redhead are also a thing. And the child there-”

“Mr. Stark! I’m not a child!” Peter whined.

“Of course you’re not, spider-baby.” Tony called back, but Peter just crossed his arms and walked back to the living room, dropping on the couch next to Rhodey. Despite his resistance of Tony’s use of the word ‘child’, Peter was pouting and looking very much like one,  “That’s Peter.” He raised his voice slightly, “Everyone, this is Bucky. Play nice, or Spangles here will have your ass, and I’m not gonna step in to save you.” He waved a hand in the air and walked back to his previous spot in the room.

Wanda followed Peter back into the living room, claiming her place beside Vision. You looked at Bucky and saw that he was nervous, probably overwhelmed with all of the introductions. So you decided to try and distract him.

Waiting until everyone was back into their normal conversations, you walked up to Bucky, placing a hand on his right forearm, “Bucky?”

He whipped around to you, obviously startled, but relaxed the moment he saw you, “Oh, hey.”

“Would you like to help me set up dinner? I could use some help.” You squeezed his arm just slightly in an attempt to encourage him, along with flashing him a warm smile.

Something in him seemed to crack, and he immediately relaxed, the tension he had been carrying since he walked into the room vanishing. “Uh, yeah. Sure.” His lips curled into a small smile and your heart fluttered in your chest. You had decided months ago, back in Wakanda when you had dropped him off for deprogramming, that you would make it your life’s purpose to make him smile whenever possible.

_ “Have you seen my teammate (Y/N)? Pretty short, long (Y/H/C) hair, (Y/E/C) eyes, probably walking around in jean shorts and an oversized purple sweatshirt?” Steve asked one of the Wakandan guards stationed in the palace. She shook her head, so Steve kept walking. He and Natasha had already checked your room, the kitchen, the common lounge, and he knew you weren’t in the lab because he had just come from there. _

_ “Hey, T’Challa found her. She’s in the garden with one of the guards.” Natasha’s voice came through the comm in his ear. _

_ “Thanks, can you go get her? I need to get back to Buck. He’s really on edge.” _

_ “On it.” _

_ You were walking in one of the most beautiful flower gardens you had ever seen in your life. There were colors and scents everywhere that were overloading your senses and it was wonderful. Every flower you could imagine was there and in full bloom. You wanted to dance around in the garden, but that would make you look silly, since there was a guard accompanying you. _

_ Of course you had seen this place in passing the last time you were in Wakanda. But you were only here so that you and the team could learn as much as possible about your mutation and capabilities.  _

_ You found a patch of fully bloomed yellow Gerbera daisies, one of your favorites, and on a whim asked your company, “Could I pick one?” _

_ She smiled for the first time since you had spoken to her; when asked her if you could visit the garden and she insisted on accompanying you.  _

_ “I thought you would never ask. Go ahead.”  _

_ You nearly squealed in excitement, and picked one of the Gerberas, and put it in your journal for safe keeping. _

_ “(Y/N)!” You jumped at Natasha’s voice, not expecting her to find you out here. Since you were kneeling down and already unstable, the small jump you did caused you to fall flat on your back.  _

_ Huffing, you answered, “Yes?”  _

_ “We’ve been looking everywhere for you, why didn’t you tell us you were going somewhere?” _

_ You pulled yourself up to a sitting position, but kept your eyes locked on the ground, “I… I did not think it to be a problem. Steve has been with James this whole time and you with Okoye.” _

_ You saw her figure move down towards you and felt her hand grab your shoulder, “(Y/N), we aren’t mad. You’re fine to come look around. We just wanted you to come to the lab. Bucky wanted to see you before going into cryo.” _

_ You felt butterflies suddenly take up occupancy in your stomach as you looked up at your friend, “Really?” _

_ Natasha rolled her eyes, “Yes, now come on.” _

_ When you made it to Shuri’s lab you had to take a calming breath before walking in. But that breath did nothing to prepare you for what you saw when you walked inside. _

_ There, sitting on top of a metal examination table, was Bucky Barnes with no shirt, sweatpants, and hair loose around his face. You could have sworn your heart stopped in that moment. _

_ What was that feeling in your stomach? _

_ Wait. _

_ What was  _ that  _ feeling?? _

_ Before you could continue your inner thoughts about what the hell your body was doing at the sight of a shirtless Bucky, he suddenly caught sight of you and met your eyes. _

_ That was it. _

_ This man was going to kill you by cardiac arrest. _

_ You felt a nudge, and turned to see that it was Natasha pushing you, silently telling you to stop acting so weird. _

_ So you walked towards Bucky and smiled, “Hello James.” _

_ “Um, hi.” _

_ “Are they sending you into cryo soon?” _

_ “In about an hour.” He raised his right arm, motioning to the IV he was connected to. It was at that point you noticed his left arm was gone.  _

_ Must have been too distracted by everything else.  _

_ You nodded back, then gestured towards the open spot next to him on the table, “May I sit?” _

_ He seemed slightly taken aback by the question, but agreed nonetheless. _

_ “How long will you be here?” You asked, trying to keep the conversation going. _

_ “Shuri said six months at the least.” _

_ “How much of that time will you be in cryo?” _

_ “I’m not sure, she said it depended on how well I was responding to the deprogramming.” You nodded, but before you could say anything else Bucky spoke up again, “You ask a lot of questions.” _

_ Your heart suddenly dropped, “I am sorry, I did not mean to make you uncomfortable. I just… I mean…” You were beginning to flounder and made a move to get off of the table when you felt a form grip around your wrist, and looked up to see a confused Bucky. _

_ “No, that’s not what I meant. Sorry, I should have chosen my words more carefully. I meant that I like that you ask questions. You don’t act like you’re walking on eggshells around me, like I’ll break with the wrong word.” You raised an eyebrow at him and he scratched his head, “Okay, not my best analogy. But, back in Bucharest, you walked right up to me even while I was still holding that gun, powers be damned.” _

_ You giggled at the memory, “Yeah, Steve is going to ground me for that one.” _

_ Bucky then raised an eyebrow, “Ground you?” _

_ You laughed again, “Yes, I am the second youngest member of the team, though I am not an official Avenger yet. I am an adult, but because I am small and have a “baby face” they like to talk as if I am a child.” _

_ Bucky huffs out a short laugh next to you. “Steve’s a punk. And a hypocrite. I seem to remember he was a lot worse of than you at an older age before he became Captain America.” He felt his stomach become feather-light at the genuine laugh that you made, “How old are you anyways?” _

_ “Twenty-two,” you answer proudly. “I can legally drink, so I am not a child.” _

_ “Of course not, doll.” _

_ “Okay you two, kiss goodbye or whatever, I need to finish prepping Bucky.” Shuri called from where she was standing with Natasha. T’Challa, who had been talking with Steve, facepalmed. _

_ “Shuri…” T’Challa warned. _

_ “Everyone was thinking it, I just said it!” Shuri defended, never once looking from the holo-screen in front of her. _

_ By now you could feel the heat in your face and you were desperately hoping Bucky couldn’t see. _

_ You jumped off the table and turned to Bucky to say goodbye, despite the fact that you were sure your face was the color of a tomato. But you noticed he was completely drained of color, “Hey,” stepping forward, you folded your hand over his. “Is everything alright?”  _

_ He looked down at you and you could see the terror in his eyes, and that his chest was rising and falling too quickly.  _

_ You felt the air get knocked out of your chest and you had the abrupt realization that the last time he went into cryo was with HYDRA. _

_ “Hey,” you gently squeezed his hand in an attempt to pull him back to reality. “You are safe here. Nobody will hurt you. We trust these people.  _ I  _ trust these people. They helped me when I first came to the team. You trust me, do you not?” _

_ You could see his eyes begin to refocus back on you, the distant look leaving his gaze. He nodded. _

_ “You trust me?” _

_ “Yes.” _

_ “Good.” You opened your journal and pulled out the Gerbera you picked earlier. It was flattened, but still beautiful. “This is one of my favorite flowers. It reminds me of the sun. And everyone needs a little sun in their lives.” You placed the flower in his hand, and placing your hand on top of it whispered, “I trust that you will bring this back to me James.” _

_ There was a beat, and then suddenly the biggest and brightest smile you had ever seen lit up the man’s face. And you decided it was the most beautiful thing you had ever seen. _

_ He nodded at you, and you nodded back. Clutching your journal you turned and began to walk away when he spoke again, “Bucky.” _

_ You stopped in your tracks and turned to him, head tilted. “I am sorry?” _

_ “Bucky. Please, call me Bucky.”  _

_ You felt confused, because you liked the name James. It was a pretty name and a formal name. But he still had that dazzling smile on his face and you couldn’t say no to him. _

_ You wondered if you would ever be able to say no to him.  _

_ So you simply said, “Bucky.” and walked off. _

_ And that night when all you could dream about was Bucky’s smile, you made it your life’s purpose to make that man smile whenever possible. _


	4. Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be explaining past events as flashbacks for background as the story continues, this will be written in italics. Some details are purposely left out, but will come to light later in the story. Thoughts belonging to characters are written in bold. If things don’t make sense or you have an idea for the story, please comment!

“Do you know how to set a table?” You asked Bucky as you finished getting out the wine glasses (and a normal glass for Peter, much to his chagrin) and napkins.

He scoffed, “I grew up in the early nineteen-hundreds. That was practically my chore in the evenings.”

“Good, then make yourself useful and set up the table for me,” You rounded on him and handed him a basket full of silverware, “Please.”

“I’d be happy to, doll.”

And there he went with that nickname again.Your heart did a little leap into your throat, but you forced your excitement down because maybe he uses that nickname with every girl? He was from the early twentieth century, after all.

While Bucky went about setting the table, you removed the main dishes from the first oven and the bread from the second. It was times like these, when cooking meals for an entire team of superheroes, that you were thankful for Tony’s extravagant taste. The kitchen was overly equipped, and that meant nearly two of everything.

You were adding the finishing touches to your dishes, when a voice startled you from behind.

“(Y/N)?”

You jumped and turned to see who the voice belonged to, “Bucky!” You grabbed your chest, a sense of deja vu coming over you from earlier in the day.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you-”

“No no, that is alright. You are very light on your feet, and I was focused on preparing dinner. It is not your fault.” You smiled at him, “Was there something you needed?” Wow, this really was some deja vu.

***

“So like, what’s the deal with them?” Sam leaned forward from where he was sitting, speaking in a hushed tone.

Everyone looked up, but Steve was the one to answer, “What?”

Sam rolled his eyes and motioned with his hand towards the kitchen where you and Bucky were talking, “(Y/N) and Bucky. They keep making heart eyes at each other, it’s weird.”

Steve sighed, “I don’t really know. They’ve been acting like that since they first  _ looked _ at each other back in Bucharest, despite them hardly seeing each other in the last seven months.”

“We still do not know the total extent of (Y/N)’s abilities,” Vision spoke up from his place on the couch with Wanda, who was suspiciously covering a smile, “Remember that Shuri said she had untapped telepathic powers we have yet to discover. It is possible she accidentally made some sort of mental connection with your friend,” He nodded to Steve. 

Steve thought for a moment, “That makes sense. She’s the only one he allows to touch him without prior warning.” Steve crosses his arms, “Even I have to tell him if I’m going to touch him before I do, otherwise he panics.”

“He may be touch deprived, and if that’s the case he may not know how to respond properly to touch,” Sam offered.

Steve put his head in his hands, “Is that permanent?”

Sam shook his head, “Not always. It can be worked through. Bucky letting (Y/N) touch him is an obvious start. But when he’s ready and willing, he should probably see a professional.”

Before anyone could say anything else, you called from the kitchen to announce that dinner was ready, earning a collection of whoops and exclamations as everyone headed to take their place at the table. 

You took a seat diagonal from Bucky. You wanted to be near him, but you knew Sam liked sitting next to Steve, and Natasha sat next to Bucky, so you sat next to Sam and across from Natasha so you could still be in close proximity to him.

Dinner went on without a problem. Nobody really bothered Bucky, and everyone went along with the normal rowdy dinner conversations. Every once in a while you would shoot Bucky a smile when you saw he was getting nervous, usually because Sam and Clint started arguing loudly. Steve noticed too and intervened quicker than usual. 

It was when dinner began coming to an end that things started to go sideways. 

“So, um, Mr. Bucky, sir,” Peter spoke up from his spot next to Tony. 

Everyone looked up at Peter, including Bucky, who was shocked that someone, especially a child, was speaking to him.

“H-How come you’re wearing gloves and a coat? Aren’t you hot?”

Half of the table choked on their food or drink, some of them just sat stock still, Natasha had a smirk on her lips, Steve had an elbow on the table with his hand over his face, Tony’s face was buried in his hands, and you and Wanda just hissed, “Peter!”

“What? What?! What did I do?” Peter’s face turned a bright red as he looked at everyone, and then at Tony. 

“Tony, I thought you talked to him,” Steve said, face still in hand. 

“I knew I was forgetting to do something.” Tony looked up apologetically, “I’m sorry Bucky I forgot to explain to him-“

Bucky huffed a laugh. “No, it’s fine. Honestly I was expecting someone to ask about it way earlier in the evening.” He turned to Peter, “Peter, first of all, please call me Bucky. No mister or sir. I’m old enough as it is.” He flashed a smile to the teenager, then removed his right glove, exposing his flesh hand, and then his left glove, exposing his metal hand. 

“Holy shit! That’s so cool!” Peter jumped out of his seat, “Is it just your hand? Or your whole arm? Is it just the one arm? Are you part android?” 

Peter kept spouting questions when you quietly spoke, “It is different than before.”

Suddenly, you noticed, it was quiet, and when you looked up everyone’s eyes were on you. 

You blushed and kept your focus on Bucky’s hand, “The last time that I saw you, your arm was silver. But now, it is black and gold.”

He gave a half smile, “Yeah, Shuri created a new arm for me while I was in cryo. This one is made of Vibranium, and I can actually feel with it.”

“Man! That’s so cool! Do you know if-“

Peter kept going on with his science questions for the rest of dinner, most of which Bucky couldn’t answer. 

Afterwards Steve took Bucky to orient him around the Compound, while Peter, Tony, and Rhodey washed dishes. 

You went to your room, deciding to get ready for bed. You hadn’t been sleeping well the past few weeks so you were exhausted by the time 9 pm rolled around. 

***

“(Y/N)? (Y/N)?” 

You shot up out of bed, scanning your room when the voice came again. 

“(Y/N).”

You sighed loudly, flopping back into your plethora of pillows. “Yes, FRIDAY?”

“Captain Rogers is requesting your presence outside of Sergeant Barnes’ quarters.”

You sat back up, “I… He… What? Why?”

“Sergeant Barnes seems to be having a panic attack and Captain Rogers cannot get him to cooperate.”

Your breath hitched and you immediately flew to your closet, grabbing your robe. “Okay, let him know I am coming.”

It didn’t take long to get to Steve, you were all on the same floor on the same wing after all. 

“Hey, what happened? Is everything alright?” You questioned. 

Steve turned to you, relief flooding his face, “I don’t know, FRIDAY woke me up saying he was having a nightmare and by the time I got in there he was awake, but already having the panic attack. He won’t listen to me or let me near him to try and help.”

His explanation just confused you, “Okay? What does that have to do with-”

“He lets you in. He talks to you and even lets you touch him. If anyone can pull him out of his spiral it’s you. Please, (Y/N)? I hate seeing him like this. He’s my best friend and I literally cannot help him.”

You froze. You had never seen Steve so scared, so upset. 

So  _ desperate _ . 

Yet here he was, begging you for help. 

And of course you would help. It was Steve. 

And this was Bucky. 

So you nodded and walked past him. Lifting yourself off the ground, you gripped the handle to the room and turned it gently, trying to keep sound to a minimum. 

Pushing the door open, you noticed there was only a small lamp on. Scanning the room, you found Bucky leaning against his closet door, knees drawn to his chest, hands in his hair, breathing way too fast for your liking. 

You floated halfway into the room, and landed at the end of his bed, “Bucky?” You whispered. 

No response. 

Kneeling down so you weren’t towering over him, you tried again, this time a little louder, “Bucky.”

This time his head shot up from between his knees and his eyes met yours. 

And your heart shattered. 

Even in the darkened room you could see his eyes were bloodshot and red-rimmed, and his cheeks had tears streaming down them like unending rivers. 

“Bucky,” you breathed, the word so soft it was barely audible, even to you. 

He didn’t speak, but you saw recognition flicker in his eyes, so you decided to float yourself a little closer. 

You landed yourself just a few feet from him and outstretched your hand, palm facing up. 

He looked at your hand, then at you, then shoved his head back between his knees. 

You tried not to take it to heart, knowing he was probably just confused, mind twisted in his panic. 

So in an attempt to ground him to reality, you got closer, kneeling right in front of him. 

“Bucky, sweetheart. Can you look at me, please?”

He raised his head enough so that you could only see his eyes. 

Progress. 

You gave him a warm smile, “There you are. Can you lift your head all of the way? I would like to see your entire face.”

Bucky hesitated, then lifted his head up to you. 

“Perfect. Can you move with me? It cannot possibly be comfortable down here. Come with me, we will sit on the bed.”

You held out your hands for him to take, but didn’t touch him. You wanted him to have a choice. 

He looked at your hands again, then at you again. 

“Do you trust me?”

It was silent for a good ten seconds before he slowly reached out with his right hand and gently placed it in yours. Curling your fingers around his, you reached for his metal hand with your free one and pulled it into your grasp. 

From there you slowly persuaded him into standing, then walking, then sitting on his bed. 

So you both sat there, in the middle of his bed, criss-cross-applesauce. You had his right hand pressed to your chest while you took even, dramatically large breaths, whilst you held his left hand. 

Neither of you spoke a word, but eventually his breaths evened out and his muscles relaxed. 

When you figured he had come down from his attack completely, you checked the time and noticed it was 3:46 am. You had been in there for nearly half an hour. 

“Bucky?” You whispered. 

He looked up at you, and your chest tightened at the sight of his puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks. 

“Stay here. I will just be a second.” You squeezed his hands as a reassurance and slipped off the bed and headed into the bathroom. You grabbed a clean face towel and soaked it with warm water. Ringing it out, you walked back out to the room and saw that Bucky hadn’t moved an inch. 

You walked back around the bed and crawled back to your spot, sitting on your knees. 

“You know,” you raised the damp towel to his face, gently wiping away the tear tracks, “I sometimes have nightmares too.”

You felt Bucky stiffen under you and you saw his eyes close, but you continued, “Before the team took me in, I was used as an experiment, similar to you.” At this revelation his eyes shot open, fixating on your face. 

But you pushed on, continuing to gently wash his face, “I am what is called a mutant. Mutants have mutated DNA, and when they hit puberty, the part of their DNA that stayed dormant all those years suddenly becomes active. They gain powers, abilities, and no longer fit normally into society. But my powers showed early. When I was five, my abilities became apparent. My parents were mortified, disgusted, they wanted nothing to do with me,” You stopped to take a breath, trying to keep your voice from breaking at the memory, “So they sold me to the bad men. I became a toy, an experiment for them. It is why I talk the way I do.”

“How did you get out?” came the quiet question. Your breath caught in your throat, because you weren’t expecting him to speak. 

You sat back down again and grabbed his hand, “Around two years ago, they went too far on one of their tests. They exposed me to too much radiation, and I was already incredibly desperate to be free. So I lost control of my abilities, the power took over me and I escaped. I was on the run for months. But when I learned about the Avengers, I immediately set out to find the Compound to ask for their help.”

It was quiet for a while, sitting there looking at your joined hands, you forced the terrible memories away, “My point is, you are not alone. I know you went through traumatic experiences. I know you have lost everything. But you have people in your corner. Please do not push us out. If you are scared or anxious, find us. If you need something, say so. I do not wish to see you suffer, Bucky.”

When you gained the courage to look at him, Bucky was staring at you. 

And you hated when he did that because then you got lost in his blue eyes and looked like an idiot and you didn’t know if-

Wait. 

**Is he getting closer?**

**Holy shit he is getting closer.**

**He is getting closer**

**Ishegonnakissmeihaveneverkissedanyoneinmylifeofmyownwillidontknowhowtokisssomeonehelp**

Suddenly there’s a knock at the door, and both you and Bucky startle and turn to see Steve opening the door. 

“Hey Buck, you okay?”

“Y-Yeah. Thanks. Sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Steve turned to you, “Thank you (Y/N). I don’t know what we would do without you.”

Smiling, you slid off the bed once again and began towards the door. “No problem. Goodnight Steve.” You turned to face Bucky, and looked him right in the eye, “Goodnight Bucky.”


	5. Part 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be explaining past events as flashbacks for background as the story continues, this will be written in italics. Some details are purposely left out, but will come to light later in the story. Thoughts belonging to characters are written in bold. If things don’t make sense or you have an idea for the story, please comment!
> 
> P.S. I’d also like to apologize for this being a slow burn. It wasn’t originally, and I’m usually not a fan of slow burns, but as the writing went on it just kind of went in that direction. WHOOPS

Bucky groaned as his body slowly started waking up. Opening his eyes, he could see the sunlight spilling through his curtains. Looking at the alarm clock next to his bed, he groaned again, rolling onto his stomach and shoving his face into a pillow.

It was 8 am. He didn’t really want to get up and leave his room. He didn’t know everyone’s routines yet so he didn’t know who was up and where they would be.

As he laid there, his memories from the night before came rushing back into his mind, catching him off guard.

“Shit!” He sat up in his bed and buried his face in his hands. He couldn’t believe he did that. He had a full on panic attack in front of (Y/N). Where did you even come from? Did Steve ask you to help?

He had snippets of memories of someone, probably Steve, trying to calm him from the panic attack that plagued him as soon as he woke from his nightmare. But he couldn’t focus, he had been too far gone from reality.

And then you were there. Wrapped in a silk black robe, hunched over on his floor calling out to him. 

You were incredibly patient, letting him take the time he needed to calm down. But also pulling him down from his panic through your voice. 

And then you opened up to him. Telling him where you came from, even though it was obviously a sensitive topic.

You cleaned his tears and touched his skin.

You grounded him. You had become his tether to reality.

He didn’t know what happened to himself that day back in Bucharest when his eyes first met yours. All he knew was that he would have trusted his life in your hands even though he hadn’t spoken a word to you.

And that feeling just... grew.

Bucky didn’t know you long, or see you often, or speak to you much. But that feeling in his soul just grew and you were all he could think about.

He wasn’t scared or nervous around you. You were easy to talk to. He could even receive your touch without issue.

You felt like home. And he hadn’t had that in decades.

Of course he had Steve and he was more than grateful for that. Steve knew him better than anyone. Steve had found him and worked his ass off to bring him back safely. Steve had found a way past the Winter Soldier in order to let Bucky through. Steve was his best friend.

But Steve wasn’t you. And as stupid as it probably sounded, he thought he was falling in love with you.

But that didn’t wipe away the embarrassment of his breakdown last night.

Bucky sighed, and decided to take a shower before attempting to begin the day.

Afterwards, he got dressed and rummaged through his minimal belongings, deciding that he should probably put everything away today, when a flash of color caught his eye.

He moved the clothes obstructing his view out of the way and saw the yellow Gerbera that you had given him right before he went into cryo back in Wakanda.

Shuri had taken an interest in the non-existent relationship between the two of you and took the liberty of preserving the flower in what resembled a paperweight.

_ Bucky turned the gift in his palm as Shuri spoke, “This way you are giving back to her the exact same flower she gave to you, and it will not be old and dried out and dead by the time you get back to her.” _

_ Bucky raised an eyebrow and looked at the princess, “Um, thanks? You didn’t have to do that, really.” _

_ “Are you kidding me? I’m trying to help you step up your game, old man! When you give this back to her, she will fall in love with you. That is to say if she has not already.” Shuri winked and turned around to her holo-screen. _

_ Bucky sputtered, “What are you talking about? We… I… We aren’t a thing. We don’t even know each other. Not well at least. I knew her for three days before I was put into cryofreeze.” _

_ Unfazed and still moving and poking at things that Bucky couldn’t even begin to understand on the holo-screen, Shuri spoke, “Ah, maybe. But her powers are that of something I have never seen before. Similar to Scarlet Witch, some of her abilities are telepathic, but hers are not as strong as the Witch. At least not yet. It is quite possible that something between the two of you caused a mental bond.” _

_ Suddenly, Bucky felt slightly violated. “Can she read minds?” _

_ “Wanda, the Scarlet Witch can, but no, (Y/N) cannot. From what I could learn, her telepathic abilities are weak and not what her powers are mainly composed of. Though I do believe that her telepathy is being guarded. Sort of like being in a jail cell. Something just has to free it.” _

_ “What are her abilities?” He now found himself curious. _

_ Shuri froze in her movements for a moment before continuing her task. “That is something you will have to learn from her. I should not explain her abilities to their entirety without consent. I have probably told you too much already.” _

Bucky grabbed the keepsake and quickly made himself look presentable. He didn’t bother hiding his metal arm since everyone had seen it the evening before.

He went to leave his room when he suddenly stopped in his tracks. He had no clue where you were, where to check, or if you were even awake yet. He  _ did  _ keep you up at an ungodly hour of the night last night.

Then he remembered Steve had said something about an artificial intelligence that ran the building. What was its name again?

This felt stupid, standing in an empty room that only contained him. But he didn’t know what else to do.

“Hello?”

“Hello Sergeant Barnes.” Bucky jumped. He knew it was coming but it was still odd. “Is there something I can help you with?” came a Irish female’s voice from, well, everywhere.

“Yeah, um, is (Y/N) awake?” He was hoping nobody could hear him other than this voice.

“Yes,” came the reply immediately, “Miss (Y/L/N) is currently on the roof as she normally is after waking in the morning.”

“And Steve?”

“Captain Rogers is currently in the training room with Ms. Romanov, Mr. Wilson, and Mr. Parker.”

He wasn’t quite sure who the last two people were, since he only introduced to everyone by their first names.

Bucky grabbed a jacket since it was now mid-October. “Could you tell me how to get to the roof?”

*** 

You sat on the roof in your usual spot, reading your current book and soaking in the sun’s rays you needed to bank for your body.

Life would be much easier if solar radiation fed your abilities and that was that. But your life was never easy so of course your lifeline was directly connected to your powers, meaning if your powers depleted, so did the life inside of each of your cells. As a result, you had to sit in the sun almost every day to keep yourself alive.

You kept your hands wrapped around your hot chocolate to soak in its warmth. Because it was autumn, the mornings were starting to change from chilly to cold. But you clung to these mornings, because you preferred this over getting your radiation from the machine that Tony and Bruce had made for you when the weather made it impossible to get it from outside, either because the sun wasn’t out or because it was too cold.

You were so deep in your thoughts that you didn’t hear the footsteps coming up from behind you until a figure sat next to you.

That had been happening a lot lately, huh?

You turned to see Bucky, who was looking out into the distance, then turned back to your book, noticing you had been on the same page for the last ten minutes.

“What are you reading?” came the low, but soft voice next to you.

“Peter wanted me to read Harry Potter, since I have not read anything that others my age are into. But I cannot say that I am enjoying it. It feels too close to reality, with the magic and monsters and evil villains.”

You saw Bucky turn to look at your book out of your peripheral vision, and you had a thought, “Do you know what Harry Potter is?”

“Doll, I’m a hundred years old. I barely even know how to use a cell phone, much less what the kids are into these days.”

You laughed, “I guess that is true. Peter and Wanda are your best bet at learning how things work and what is popular. They still keep me up to date. Peter forces me to help him run one of his Instagram accounts because he thinks it will help me ‘stay in touch’.”

“Instagram?”

You giggled, but felt bad doing so because you knew exactly where he was coming from. “It is a website on the internet where you can share your pictures with friends and strangers. It is interesting.”

Bucky huffed, “That’s weird.”

You nodded, “Many things are. But they are normal to those who were not held captive their entire lives. So we must adapt.”

This time Bucky nodded. He wasn’t sure if he should mention last night or not. He was embarrassed and didn’t want to make you uncomfortable if it was weird for you to comfort him. But you beat him to the punch.

“Are you feeling better?”

He nodded again, “Yeah. I, uh, thank you. For last night, I mean. I’m sorry you had to do that and  you losing sleep over me-”

Immediately, you cut him off, “Please do not apologize, Bucky. I did not “have to” do anything. I wanted to. You needed someone and I was happy to be that someone. I told you last night, if you need someone, you tell them. Do not suffer alone.”

You both sat in silence, looking out to the skyline. After a few minutes of silence Bucky spoke, “I, um, I have something for you.”

And before you could ask what he meant, he pulled out a smooth, crystal clear piece of glass that fit in his one hand. And inside that glass was the flower you gave him seven months ago, back in Wakanda.

Your breath hitched, and you felt tears welling up in your eyes. Reaching out, you let one finger trace along the smooth surface, marveling the fact that  _ he actually remembered.  _

Bucky grabbed your hand and gently placed the memento into your hand.

You felt your heartbeat quicken and you couldn’t believe this was happening. “How did you do this?”

He chuckled, “Shuri took it upon herself to preserve it.”

Now it was your turn to laugh, “Of course she did.” 

A moment passed before Bucky reached up and cupped your face with his flesh hand, wiping away the tears that spilled.

You looked into each other’s eyes for a beat.

Two beats.

Three beats.

Then Bucky spoke, “Thank you for trusting me with it.”

You leaned into his touch and smiled. “Thank you for coming back.”


	6. Part 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be explaining past events as flashbacks for background as the story continues, this will be written in italics. Some details are purposely left out, but will come to light later in the story. Thoughts belonging to characters are written in bold. If things don’t make sense or you have an idea for the story, please comment!

“I’m not making him sign this, Tony!” Steve shouted, slamming his fist on the table.

“I don’t think he should sign it either, Cap. But Ross is fighting me on this. I don’t know how to win this one.” Tony was frustrated, but not at Steve’s outburst. He knew how Steve felt. He had done everything in his power to keep Peter from having to sign the Accords.

“This is ridiculous,” Steve flopped back into one of the rolling chairs and leaned his head back, tangling his hands in his hair, “He’s not an Avenger, or even a superhero at that! Maybe one day, if he wants to. But right now, he isn’t in the right mindset. It took us two weeks to get him to talk in a room that had more than 3 people in it, and an entire month to get him to leave his room without looking for me or (Y/N). And we just recently got him to agree to see a psychologist.”

Tony sat down across the table, “I know, I’m sorry. I just don’t know how to convince-”

The door to the conference room swung open just then, effectively cutting Tony off.

“Hey guys! Natasha and I are taking Bucky to the city to pick Peter up from school, then Bucky wants to visit Times Square again. Do you want us to get anything while we are out?” You were practically bouncing on the balls of your feet with excitement.

Tony and Steve both smiled, but neither one reached their eyes, “No, thank you though. Make sure Peter gets back here before nine though, or May will have my ass.” Tony answered.

You nodded and began to back out of the room, “Okay, text us if you need anything, bye!”

When the door shut Tony turned to Steve, “How in the hell does Bucky keep up with her?”

Steve rolled his eyes, “Don’t ask me. And according to Bucky, they aren’t together. So watch it.”

It was Tony’s turn to roll his eyes, and he did it so hard that Steve wondered if he could see his brain in the process, “Oh please, Helen Keller would be able to tell that they aren’t just “good friends”.”

Another sigh, “Whatever Tony, can we just focus on the problem at hand?”

***

“... And then Ned was like, “I bet Peter would take you to the formal” and she just looked at me with the most terrifying stare I’ve _ever_ _seen_ so I was like “uh yeah sure, MJ, let’s go to the formal together” and then it was dead silent for a good thirty seconds before she went back to reading her book and was like “yeah sure, whatever, loser” so basically MJ and I are going to the winter formal together because Ned has a big mouth.” Peter finished his story in one breath and Bucky was wondering how such a small kid had so much air in him.

“Is this not the girl you have had a crush on for the last several months?” You asked.

“I mean, yeah, but I don’t want her to actually  _ know _ that. She’s so intimidating. It’s scary.”

“Have you ever thought that maybe she’s like that as a defense, you know, to keep from getting hurt? Maybe she likes you too and wants to go to this dance with you.” Natasha offered.

The four of you were silent as you walked down Times Square, admiring the holiday decorations. You made note to bring everyone out here one evening for some holiday fun. Peter was obviously mulling over what Natasha had just suggested, biting his lower lip.

Honestly, it was a pretty uneventful evening. The three of you took Bucky everywhere he wanted to go, and then Peter led the way to a few places that were lit up for Christmas, but not overcrowded with tourists.

At some point in the evening Peter announced he was hungry, so you all stopped and got pizza for dinner. A slice of veggie for Natasha, a slice of pepperoni for you, three slices of meat lovers for Peter, and two slices of supreme for Bucky (he was still getting used to the fact that he was allowed to eat as much as he needed).

After dinner you all decided to head back to the car to make sure Peter got back to the compound by nine so Tony and May didn’t chew you out.

Bucky and Natasha were in front of the small group, discussing God knows what, and Peter was following along while also looking at his phone (if you even attempted that you’d fall flat on your face. Damn Spidey senses), and you were trailing behind them.

When you got out of the more populated area, a familiar voice made you stop in your tracks, making your blood run cold.

“Hello (Y/N).”

You looked around for the owner of the voice, but couldn’t find it. You saw the others were still walking, and obviously hadn’t heard what you did. Maybe you were imagining things? So you began to slowly walk in the direction you were originally headed when a hand covered your mouth and an arm wrapped around you, and you were tossed into a nearby alleyway.

“I see you’ve made friends with the Avengers. That’s going to make my life more difficult.”

You looked up from where you were on the ground on all fours, only to see  _ him _ standing in front of you.

“I must admit, losing you was a deep emotional loss for me. We’ve been searching for you for quite some time now.”

“Papa, please.” You stood up to get away from the man, only to be restrained by two hands wrapped around your biceps.

“How long have you been hiding with the Avengers? You’ve been gone a long time now. That’s a bad girl.” He took a step towards you.

You closed your eyes and tensed. You had associated pain to the nickname he used when you disobeyed.

“Why don’t you come back with me? If you don’t put up a fight I’ll lessen your punishment.”

You took a breath. You were stronger now. Much stronger than you were when you escaped. Your powers had developed beyond what even Shuri could comprehend.

But you were scared. Panicked. Papa had found you and knew where you were hiding. There was no stopping him. 

You remembered your watch had a built in panic button, and you moved to press it when Papa began to speak again, “Let’s go now, pet. You belong to me. You always will. Do not kid yourself.”

Instantly your panic was replaced with seething anger, “I. Belong. To  _ nobody!”  _

Quickly, you reached up over your left shoulder and grabbed the shirt of the man holding you, bent forward, and flipped him onto his back. Now that you were free of his grasp, you switched into a defensive stance, your irises lighting up that brilliant emerald green, and your hands engulfed in the flame like energy that came from your body.

Just as quickly, Papa and his goon whipped out their guns and had them trained on you.

But before anyone could do anything, you heard a voice come from behind you, “What the hell is going on??”

You didn’t turn your head, keeping your eyes focused on the two men in front of you.

Natasha and Bucky were in the opening of the alleyway, Natasha with a gun drawn to the two men in front of you, Bucky ready to jump in front of you at the slightest movement of a finger.

Papa spoke first, his eyes narrowing, “You should keep your mutants in line, Widow. The devil tried to attack us first.”

You wondered for a moment if Papa had a death wish, speaking to the Black Widow like that.

“I highly doubt that’s what happened, Ethan. She doesn’t attack anyone unless provoked. And from what I know about you, you’re quite the provocative type.” Natasha raised an eyebrow.

Papa sneered, but before he could voice his reply Natasha continued, “Besides, if she had actually attacked you, there’s a high probability that you wouldn’t be standing right now.”

That made him grimace, probably at the memory of all the dead lab workers you accidentally killed in your escape, and he shot you a brutal look.

Bucky stepped forward, “Put the guns down, before I make you regret ever breathing.” He growled from behind you. You flinched, having never heard him speak like that; cold, harsh, and calculating. It scared you.

And suddenly Papa’s whole demeanor changed, like he just realized the Winter Soldier was standing in the alleyway and was definitely not on his side. 

You thought that maybe he did have a death wish.

Reluctantly, they put their guns away, but you didn’t let down your guard.

Natasha stepped forward and rested a hand on your shoulder, “Come on, (Y/N). Stand down. Let’s go.”

But you couldn’t move from where you where. Couldn’t stop the energy that was emitting from your body. Couldn’t stop looking at the people who had caused you so much pain. The people that you thought you were finally safe from, only to be fighting again.

“(Y/N)?” Your line of vision was obstructed as Bucky stepped in front of you, “Look at me.”

Slowly, you raised your head to look into his slate blue eyes.

“I need you to stand down, okay? You’re safe.”

You shook your head violently, then looked at Bucky with pleading eyes, “Papa. Bad men.” You whispered.

He furrowed his eyebrows, face contorted in confusion, “Bad men?”

You nodded, looking into his eyes, silently begging him to  **please understand I can’t say this out loud or they’ll start shooting.**

“Bucky,” You heard Natasha whisper from beside you, “We need to go. Now.”

His head snapped to to look at her, “What’s wrong?”

She didn’t answer him, “(Y/N), I need you to understand this question. Blonde or brunette?” Keeping her voice low.

“Blonde.” You began to shake, the fear beginning to take over again.

“Christ. (Y/N), we won’t let them touch you. You’re safe. But you have to move so we can leave. Right now.” She spoke urgently, still barely above a whisper.

You complied, though reluctantly, pulling in the radiating energy back into your body, stiff muscles now relaxing.

“I hope you don’t make it a habit of this. It would be a shame if we caught you aiming a gun at our friend with no witnesses around.” Natasha nodded in Papa’s direction, then wrapped an arm around your shoulders, leading you out of the alley, as Bucky backed out, making sure neither of the men tried to pull a stunt.

Peter jumped back into the group as you rounded the corner, but kept quiet as he heard the entire exchange due to his enhanced hearing.

The entire walk to the car and the entire drive back to the compound was unnervingly silent.

In the heat of it all, it completely went over your head that Natasha had addressed the man, who once treated you so horribly and still believed you to be his property, with a name.


	7. Part 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts belonging to characters are written in bold. If things don’t make sense, you have an idea for the story, or a request of your own, please don’t hesitate to message me!
> 
> WARNINGS: There is a description of a severe panic attack towards the middle/end of the chapter.

“You’re late.” Is the first thing out of Tony’s mouth when you all exit the elevator.

“Mr. Stark-” Peter tried, knowing the coming conversation wasn’t going to go well, and was most certainly not going to go well if Tony kept this up.

“Ah ah! The adults are talking. Go down to the lab, I’ll be there in a minute.” He turned to face you, “You know, when I asked you to bring my kid back at-”

Natasha cut him off, taking a step forward, “Actually Peter, this may take a while. Why don’t you get ready for bed? I’ll bring some hot chocolate up when we’re done, маленький паук.” ( _ Little spider) _

Tony gave Natasha an indignant look, but Natasha shot him a dangerous glare telling him that he needed to keep his mouth shut if he didn’t want to be castrated on the spot.

“Okay,” Peter agreed. He wasn’t tired and didn’t want to go to bed, but he knew this was important and didn’t want to be in the way, so he obeyed. Walking up to you, he gave you a gentle hug, “Goodnight.”

You smiled slightly, hugging him back, “Goodnight, Peter.” 

Tony’s eyes followed Peter out of the room, and as soon as he was gone Tony began questioning, “What the hell was that about?”

“We have a problem, Tony.”

His eyes narrowed, “What kind of problem? Is Peter okay? Is that why you’re late? I swear to God, Romanov-”

“Peter is fine. This has nothing to do with him.” Her voice was stern. 

Tony’s eyes left Natasha’s and fell on you, who was currently standing behind her and nestled into Bucky’s side with his arm protectively around you.

His gaze returned to Natasha, his voice softer but still demanding, “What happened?”

At that moment the elevator door opened and Steve stepped out.

“Hey, FRIDAY said you all needed me?” Steve stopped, taking a look around the room, “What’s going on?”

Nobody answered, Natasha simply walked over to the living room and fell onto the couch. Bucky guided you over and sat you down in between the two of them, you still tucked into his side. Steve and Tony followed, both taking seats opposite from the three of you.

“Okay, can we stop being so cryptic now?” Tony asked, getting agitated.

Natasha leaned forward, “When (Y/N) came to us, do you remember who she said she was running from?”

Tony blinked, “She didn’t give us any names,”

“No,” Steve interjected, “But kept saying ‘bad men’.” 

Natasha made a clicking noise with her tongue and pointed at Steve, “Right, but who did she specifically mention?”

A mix of horror and disgust flashed across Tony’s face, his eyes falling on you, making you squirm, “Tell me he didn’t show up tonight.”

Natasha nodded, her face sullen but determined.

“Papa,” You whispered, beginning to shake. Bucky quickly pulled you closer, his heart aching at the amount of pain you were in, and his brain chastising him for not killing those men where they stood in that damned alley.

Natasha took a breath before continuing, “The real problem here is the fact of who ‘Papa’ actually is.” Tony and Steve exchanged glances with each other and then with Natasha before she dropped the bomb, “It’s Ethan Levi.”

Tony choked on his own spit while Steve’s mouth fell open.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Tony all but yelled, making you flinch.

You sunk back farther into the couch, keeping your gaze focused on your hands that were shaking, intertwined in your lap.

Natasha shook her head, “(Y/N) disappeared while we were walking back to the car. We found her in an alley with Ethan and some guy who I’m assuming is some sort of body guard.”

You begun to drown out the conversation, not really wanting to hear them talk about you or Papa or anyone else that had anything to do with your captivity. So when you felt a hand on your knee, you looked up and saw that everyone was staring at you.

“Sorry?”

The hand on your knee gave a small squeeze, and your realized it was Bucky, “Can you tell us what happened back there, doll?”

“Oh.” You sighed and took a deep breath. This was something you desperately wanted to forget, but it seemed your wish would not be granted tonight, “I was walking behind everyone when I thought I heard Papa. I stopped and looked but I could not find him, and nobody else had heard him so I figured that it was my imagination. So I kept walking. But then the other man grabbed me and threw me into an alley. That is where I saw Papa. He…” Your voice began to shake along with your body, and you had to wipe a tear away before it fell, “He wanted me to leave with him. He said that if I went willingly that my punishment for running would be less severe.

“And I was going to activate my panic button, I was. But then I just got so angry, I do not know what came over me. That is when you all showed up.” You motioned towards Natasha.

Silence.

Silence.

More silence.

And then… 

“Jesus Christ!” Tony yelled as he got out of his seat, effectively making you jump in yours.

Steve leaned forward, “(Y/N), is there anything else we need to know?”

You felt the tears beginning to fall from your eyes, “I do not know. At least I do not think so. I believe I have told you everything.”

“For fucks sake, this is just great.”

“Stark,” Natasha bit, “Cool it. Losing your temper is only going to make this worse.”

Tony fell back into his chair with a huff, his hand covering his mouth while he was deep in thought.

You thought for a moment before a switch went off in your head, “Why is Papa so important? Who is he?” You asked, “Why do you all act as if you know him?”

Steve, Natasha, and Tony exchanged glances, and you could tell by their faces they didn’t want to answer your questions.

“Please.”

Steve was the one who answered, an apologetic look on his face, “Ethan works under Secretary Ross. He worked on the Accords. That must be how he found you. When you signed them.”

Your brain finally caught up with the events from the night. 

Papa knew where you were. He knew where you slept. He was back and you couldn’t do anything about it. You couldn’t run, you couldn’t fight. 

You were back where you were all that time ago. 

The next thing you knew your senses were blocked. You couldn’t hear, you couldn’t speak, you couldn’t breathe.

**ohmygodicantbreatheicantbreathesomeonehelpmeICANTBREATHE.**

You became very aware of a ringing in your ears and a buzzing sensation in your head and you felt like you were going to be sick.

You thought your chest was going to explode from the pressure and your head from lack of oxygen.

Because you were stuck in your panicked state, you were unaware that you had fallen to the floor sobbing, begging someone to “help me”, with the other three Avengers crowded around you trying to calm you down.

The moment Natasha touched you in an attempt to soothe you, you screamed and violently flinched from her.

Tony and Steve backed away, terrified and unsure of how to help. 

“Bucky, you have to do something. We can’t help her.” Natasha said while trying and failing at getting you to accept her touch.

“Me? What makes you think I can-”

“Look Barnes,” Natasha hissed, pushing her finger into his chest, “We don’t have time for this bullshit game of ‘will they or won’t they’ the two of you have going on. She’s connected herself to you, nobody else. Right now, you’re the only one that can help her.” She spat, pointing at your shaking form, “She doesn’t know what’s happening.”

Bucky sighed, then slowly moved to your side and lowered himself towards you, gathering you in his arms, “(Y/N), sweetheart,” He gently caressed your cheeks, wiping away the river of tears with his thumbs, “Doll, please, I need you to calm down.” Bucky pleaded with you. He had never seen you like this before. You were usually so put together. And now that you were falling apart he didn’t know how to put you back.

He racked his brain to remember the things that you and Steve did for him when he panicked.

“(Y/N)? You’re scaring me. Come on, I really need you to come back to me.” He carded his hand through your (Y/H/C) locks.

He thought he had made progress when you accepted his touch, but he noticed a blue tint on your lips, and suddenly realized you weren’t making any sounds.

“(Y/N)?” Bucky held your face and Tony put a hand on your chest, “(Y/N)!”

“She’s not breathing.” Tony announced.

Natasha stood up and bolted towards the kitchen, coming back seconds later with a wet wash rag. 

“Lay her down flat on her back.” She ordered. 

Bucky did as he was told and Natasha put the rag on your face, the cold shocking you into breathing again. 

Bucky let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. 

Soon your breaths began to slow and your cries became whimpers.

You heard a voice, but you couldn’t make out what it was saying. Then there were multiple voices. Who were they? And why were your eyes closed? You wanted to know who was talking but  _ damn  _ you were tired.

Suddenly you felt yourself being lifted, and you didn’t have the energy to care who was holding you or where they were taking you.

After what could have either been a few minutes or a few hours, you weren’t entirely sure, you were laid down on something soft. Opening your eyes, you saw that it was your bed.

“Is this better?”

You violently jerked and sat up, not realizing your head was in someone’s lap, or that anyone was even in the room with you.

But there sat Bucky, right in front of you, sitting criss cross on your bed. You were immediately aware of how reminicant this was of Bucky’s first night here.

He took your face in his hands, “Hey, hey. It’s alright. It’s just me.”

You tilted your head at him and, in a moment of weakness, completely let down your guard and climbed into his lap. Resting your head in his neck, you let him wrap his arms around you and rock you while you cried.

When you finally settled down, you realized just how real everything was becoming. How all of your fears had come to life.

You couldn’t be alone.

“Can you stay with me tonight?”

“Yeah, of course. Why don’t you get changed, and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

You nodded, and after he left you quickly changed into some gray sweatpants and a pink shirt. 

After you climbed into bed, you heard your door open and shut, and you waited for Bucky to join you.

But when nothing happened, you turned to see him standing in front of the door.

“Bucky?”

He looked up at you, and let out a deep breath. Carefully, he climbed into the bed with you.

Bucky stilled as you basically wrapped yourself around him like an octopus, not willing to let him go.

The two of you laid there for a long time, neither one saying a word. Eventually, your breathing evened out so much that Bucky assumed you had fallen asleep. He kissed the top of your head, and whispered to you the three words you had been so desperately wanting to say to him.

“I love you.”


	8. Part 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING  
> Part of a scene has a vague description of rape, I've outlined it. It begins with '!!!' and ends with '!!!'.

Your body tensed, and Bucky immediately realized that you, in fact, were  _ not  _ sleeping. But it was out in the open now and he couldn’t bring himself to take it back.

You pulled yourself out of his hold, sitting up.

“What?” You whispered.

His eyes searched your, and yours his.

“I um,” He stammered, not really sure if he should repeat it or not. Had he crossed a line?

“Bucky,” You breathed, your hand barely touching his face as you leaned down to him.

“(Y/N),” He breathed back, his hands grazing your sides as they traveled up your body.

Your faces were less than an inch apart, and you felt butterflies grow in your stomach.

“I love you, too.”

Bucky’s face lit up, and he pulled you down to him, crushing his lips to yours.

You pulled yourself up to straddle him, your hands squeezing at his biceps. 

Bucky ran his hands through your hair, pulling you flush against him. Before you knew what he was doing, he flipped the two of you so that he was on top. 

He moved a hand to your jaw, pushing it up slightly, giving him access to your neck. 

As he placed gentle kisses down your neck and across your collarbone, you couldn’t help but let out a small moan. 

But things didn’t go smoothly for long. 

As soon as Bucky placed a hand on your breast, your eyes shot open, and your mind told you to

“STOP!” You screamed, pushing Bucky off of you. 

Except the fear that suddenly built in your body took over, and instead of an actual push, your powers grabbed hold of Bucky and threw him against the opposite wall. 

Nothing was heard in the room for a full minute except your panting. You were still laid on your back, processing what had just happened when Bucky spoke up. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t… I didn’t mean to…Make you uncomfortable,” You could hear the sadness in his voice, and it killed you. 

“It was not your fault.” You whispered, unmoving but slightly shaking on the bed. 

Bucky carefully stood up, “It was my fault, I shouldn’t have-“

“Please, Bucky. Just… Just stop.” You whispered, your tone harsher than you meant for it to be.

His heart fell into his stomach, and he was unsure of what to do. He didn’t know what would trigger another outburst. 

Slowly, he stepped towards the bed, “Can you tell me what happened? So I don’t do it again,”

You closed your eyes, tears falling from the corners. 

“I can not.” You grabbed the covers, pulling them up over you, now feeling too exposed. 

“Doll-“

“James,” You spoke sternly, but never above a whisper. Bucky froze, unsure of why you were suddenly using his given name again, “Please I… Can you just, lay down?”

Bucky nodded and climbed into bed again, but never touched you. He wanted you to come to him when you were ready. 

The two of you laid there, untouching, for hours. But neither of you slept. 

Bucky was going over everything that happened in his head over and over again, trying to pinpoint how everything went downhill so fast. 

When you spoke, he jumped slightly, forgetting he wasn’t in his own bed. 

!!!

“When I was with them,” You began, “I was used for experiments. I was tested on for years, being poked and prodded. They pushed me to my limits, physically and mentally. But I was not just…” You took a shaky breath, “I was not just a science experiment to some of them.”

Bucky’s blood ran cold, afraid that he knew what you were about to say, but pleading with God that maybe it would be something less… Horrific. 

He turned his head to look at you, still in the same position you were hours before. 

“I… I was a toy to some of them. A plaything, they liked to call me.”

“(Y/N), you don’t have to-“

“At first, I did not know what was happening. He told me it was a game. And as I got older, more of them would show up. They told me I belonged to them. That nobody would ever want me after they had me.”

Bucky felt sick, confused, and full of rage all at once. But he couldn’t let you know any of that because you were the one who was hurting. 

“When I escaped, I killed them last. I know that makes me a monster but…” You sniffed and wiped away the tears staining your face, “I was scared, and angry, and I just wanted to be safe. For  _ once,”  _ Your voice cracked.

!!!

“Hey,” Bucky whispered, turning towards you, “You’re not a monster. You’re the farthest thing from it. You did what you needed to do to survive.”

“But Steve says killing people is not the way to solve problems.”

He rolled his eyes, “Sweetheart, I don’t give a damn what Steve says. If you’re in danger, you aim to kill. Got it?”

But you didn’t answer, just continued to lay there. 

“Can I come closer?” He asked. 

You nodded and he moved his body closer to you. 

He wasn’t there for more than 3 seconds before you turned to him, shoving your face in his chest. 

He wrapped his arms around you and gently stroked your back. 

“I promise, darling. You’re not a monster. You’re the sweetest thing I think I’ve ever met. And if you had let them live, I can guarantee you I would be tracking them down and putting them in their graves right now.”

It was silent again, and Bucky just focused on your breathing and the slow strokes his fingers were making on your back. 

“Please do not leave me.” You whispered. 

Bucky chuckled, “Doll, nothing in the world could make me leave you.”

He felt more than heard you giggle, and he took that as a small victory. 

***

The next morning, you woke up in your bed by yourself. Your heart dropped a little, wondering where Bucky could have gone. 

Did you scare him off? 

Sitting yourself up, your eyes widened when you saw the large dent in the wall. It took about 3 seconds for you to relay the night’s events in your head before you realized that  _ you  _ threw Bucky into the wall. 

Jumping out of bed, you raced to his room only to find it empty. 

“FRIDAY, where is Bucky?” Your heart rate quickened. 

_ “Sergeant Barnes is currently on the common floor.” _

You nodded, your nerves a tight bundle, causing you to lift your feet off the ground and fly down the staircase to the common floor. 

“Bucky!” You all but screamed, tumbling into the room. 

You probably should have taken into consideration that he probably wasn’t the only one down there, because the entire team was there, and they were all looking at you like you had lost your mind.

But you really didn’t care at that moment, you found Bucky and shot through the air towards him. 

“Are you okay?? I am so sorry! I did not know that I threw you so hard!” Your hands were hovering over Bucky’s body. 

He chuckled, “Hey hey, I’m okay, I promise.” He smiled at you, grabbing your nervous hands. 

“I saw the wall and I just-“

“Hey,” Bucky said a little louder with a little more force, catching your full attention. He smiled again, “The wall is way worse off than I am. Promise.”

“I’m sorry,” Clint said, “Did she say she  _ threw  _ you into a wall??”

A blush crept up your neck and tinted your cheeks. 

“It was an accident,” You answered quietly. 

“It’s always the quiet ones, huh?” Sam winked. 

Bucky grabbed your waist and pulled you close, “Knock it off, Sam. Before I knock off your head.”

Sam laughed, “What? I’m just joking,”

“It’s not a joke.” Bucky growled.

“What is he talking about?” You asked. 

Bucky’s hold tightened, “Nothing, don’t worry about it, doll.” He placed a kiss to your forehead. 

“Oh my God! Finally!” Peter screeched, finally realizing what was happening, “Took you guys long enough! I have to tell Shuri!” The teenager pulled out his phone. 

You giggled and Bucky pulled your head into his chest. 

“About damn time,” Tony said.

You looked over to Natasha and Wanda, who were both smiling at you and giving you a thumbs up.

Steve walked over to the two of you, laying a hand on Bucky’s shoulder, “I’m happy for you,” He looked down at you, “Are you feeling okay?”

You took a breath, taking a moment to gauge how exactly you were feeling.

“Not quite, but I am feeling better.” You smiled.

Steve nodded knowingly, “Good. Why don’t we have a movie night tonight? The whole team.”

You nodded, looking around the room, and decided that maybe you weren’t okay, not yet. But you were safe with them. Safe with Bucky.

That night evening everyone was huddled in the living room, sitting in various places around the room with blankets and bowls of popcorn strewn about.

It was about halfway through The Princess Diaries 2 when FRIDAY interrupted.

_ “Boss, Director Fury is on the line.” _

“Tell him to call back tomorrow.”

“Tony,” Steve sighed.

_ “He says the matter is urgent and cannot wait until morning.” _

Sighing, Tony got up, as well as the rest of the team.

“Dammit, I wanted to see if Mia and Nick get together!” Clint whined.

“You know damn well they do, it’s a typical chick flick!” Sam said.

Ignoring them, Bucky pulled you to your feet, leading you to the conference room with everyone else.

The whole meeting Bucky kept his eyes on you, but yours were trained on the hologram of Fury, standing at the head of the table.

He wasn’t even listening until he heard your name.

“... Wanda and (Y/N) will take the lead on this one. Their powers are going to be your best bet at getting in the base undetected.”

That was the  _ last  _ thing Bucky needed right now, you going headfirst into danger after, not one, but two traumatizing events within 24 hours.


	9. Part 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter kind of sucks, but I needed a transition chapter for what will happen next. I went over this chapter like 10 times to make it the best that I could with what I had, and completely rewrote the chapter like 3 times. It’ll get better from here, plus, we’re on the way to the end!

“She’s in no state to fight right now.” Bucky argued.

“We need all hands on deck. That includes (Y/N). Her and Wanda are our best bet for this mission.” Fury stated.

“No, you guys don’t understand-”

“What don’t we understand?” Tony asked.

Tony and Steve agreed that you shouldn’t go out and fight, but Bucky was so adamant about it that they couldn’t help but wonder if he knew something they didn’t.

But Bucky snapped his mouth shut. He stared out the window, purposefully not looking at the other two.

Steve walked over to his friend, and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Buck?”

“Barnes,” Fury called. Bucky turned to look at him, or rather, his hologram, “I understand your hesitancy. But don’t you think that she’ll be better protected with you all, in the field, instead of being left behind in the Tower alone?”

Bucky let out a huff, running a hand down his face.

Fury was right.

But that didn’t mean Bucky was happy about it.

He walked up to your room to see you packing a duffel bag. You turned when you heard the door open.

“Hey,” You smiled.

“Hey, doll,” Bucky answered with a smile of his own, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Are you packed?” You asked, turning back to your bag, carefully placing a few shirts in it.

“Uh, no. Not yet,” He fully stepped into the room, closing the door behind him, “Can we talk for a second?”

You turned to look at him again and saw that his gaze was locked on the carpet, but you could still see the worry etched on his face.

“Of course, is everything okay?” You asked, moving the bag and sitting on the edge of the bed.

Bucky walked over and sat next to you, “Yeah, everything is fine.”

“Do not lie to me, Bucky.”

He sighed, “Really, nothing is wrong. I’m just… Worried.”

“About?”

His hand came up to rub his neck, “The mission. I’m worried about you.”

You cocked your head at him, “I can take care of myself. I know history may not prove that but-“

“No, that’s not what meant, doll.”

“Then what did you mean?”

“It’s just, you’ve been through a lot in the last day. I just don’t want you losing focus and getting hurt-“

“I could get hurt whether any of that had happened or not. That is what comes with being on this team. I am able to separate hero work from personal issues, Bucky.” Your voice became harsh toward the end, annoyed that he didn’t think you could handle a fight.

“I know that, I’m just-“

“If you do not trust me, then just say so.”

Bucky’s eyebrows furrowed, “(Y/N) you know that’s not what I meant,”

You were quiet for a moment before speaking again, “Maybe you should go get ready, we have to leave soon.” You said, standing up and pulling your bag over to you again.

“Baby,” He pleads, going to grab your hand. But you pull away and look at the ground.

“Just… Just go, James.” You whispered.

Bucky but his lip, forcing the emotions in his throat down and willing the tears to go away.

So he left you to finish packing.

***

“Everyone know their positions?” Steve asked as everyone was getting ready to exit the quinjet.

“You’ve only gone over it a hundred times,” Wanda mumbled, making you giggle.

Steve rolled his eyes, but ignored the two of you and walked over to Bucky, who was leaning against the wall.

“You good?” He asked.

Bucky closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“What happened?”

Bucky sighed, “I pissed (Y/N) off.”

Steve’s eyebrows shot up, and he looked between his best friend and you, who was currently talking to Tony.

“How did you manage to do that?” He asked.

Before Bucky could answer, Clint shouted from the front, “Okay guys, we’re headed in!”

You and Wanda positioned yourselves at the now open door, waiting for Clint’s mark.

“Go!” He yelled.

The two of you jumped, flying to the ground.

“On the ground.” Wanda said into the comm when you landed.

“Alright, head east. The cell will be about two miles from your current location. We’re too far off to get a heat signature reading so be prepared. We’re going to land about three more miles out and meet you there.” Steve instructed.

“On it,” You replied.

The two of you took off, flying being faster and taking up less physical energy.

When you got about a quarter of a mile out from your destination, you heard shuffling.

“Someone is here,”

Wanda turned to you, but you both kept going, not wanting to stop.

The large warehouse (of course) came into sight, and you both grounded.

“There are no guards out here.” Wanda said.

“You’re there?” Tony asked.

“Yeah, but nobody else-“ Wanda was cut off when a gunshot rang out. But it was too slow for you.

You turned to the offending sound’s origin, your hand flying up. The bullet stopped mid-air, and when you balled your hand to a fist, the bullet turned to dust.

You saw the man go to shoot again, so you used your powers to pull the gun from his hands and knocked him over the head with it, crushing the weapon when you were finished.

“How did you do that?” Wanda asked from behind you.

You turned to her, then looked at your hands.

How  _did_ you do that?

You’d never possessed telekinetic abilities before.

At least, that you knew of.

“What’s going on? Are you alright?” Steve asked, startling you from your thoughts.

“We’re fine. But I have a feeling they know we are here.” Wanda answered, her eyes still lingering on you.

“Alright. Be careful. Tony and Vision should be there any second but the rest of us are a little ways out.”

“Copy.”

The two of you took off again, heading for the roof of the warehouse when more shots rang out, this time Wanda throwing up a shield below you.

You looked down to see about twenty Hydra soldiers aiming for the two of you, but Wanda easily held them off.

Suddenly a repulsive blast hit the ground, knocking them over.

Looking up you saw Tony and Vision landing.

“Go, we’ll hold these jokers off.” Tony said, charging up another blast.

You took off again, landing on the roof a few seconds later.

“There’s the generator.” Wanda pointed to a large machine.

You nodded, “Steve, what is your status?”

“Still about a mile out. If you can wait, don’t blow that generator till we get there.”

You sighed, “Then hurry, Tony and Vision are already holding up the north side.”

A few minutes later you heard the door to the roof open, and turned to see several men filing out, guns aimed at the two of you.

You took a step forward, raising your hands, then roughly threw your arms to the sides, sending the soldiers flying off the roof.

Just then, you heard the tell tale sound of motor bikes.

You looked to see the rest of the team coming into view.

Wanda smiled, “That’s our cue.”

You both walked up to the generator, raising your hands, both pairs of eyes glowing, one red and one green, as you each summoned your powers.

As the explosion rang out, you pulled Wanda down to the ground as her red magic covered you from the blast.

When the smoke cleared, you flew to the ground, meeting up with everyone.

“Alright, everyone head in. We have about 5 minutes before their backup system powers up.” Steve ordered.

Everyone split up with you, Wanda, and Clint together.

“This place gives me the creeps.” Clint chimed in after about thirty seconds of walking down a long hallway.

“It reminds me of the place I was kept.” You said lowly.

The three of you got to a reinforced door, as expected.

“Allow me.” Wanda said, sounding smug, and stepping to the front.

“Wanda wait!” Clint shouted, grabbing her arm.

“Clint, what are you doing?” You hissed.

“Listen,” He whispered.

You all fell silent, listening for whatever Clint was talking about.

“I do not hear anything.” You whispered back.

Clint looked around, and seemed to find what he was looking for when he crouched down to the level of several pipes lining wall.

“They’re leaking.” He told you.

Both you and Wanda looked at each other, then leaned down to hear the quiet hissing of whatever was leaking out.

“How did you hear that?” She asked.

Clint tapped on his hearing aids, “Special hearing aids for missions. I can hear just as well as Steve, Bucky, and Peter.”

You raised an eyebrow, “So why can Wanda not open the door?”

“We don’t know what’s leaking. If it’s gas, and the metal sparks, we’re toast. Literally.”

You huffed, but he had a point.

“Guys, we found a leaking pipe. Secure your areas and make sure-“

You couldn’t finish the sentence as the hissing of air suddenly got louder, and a light fog began filling the hallway.

“It’s not a leak! It’s a trap!” Clint yelled, before falling into a coughing fit.

Wanda began coughing too, and you followed.

“We need to leave! We need to-“

Your breaths starting coming slower, and you felt like you were swimming.

Clint dropped to the floor first, then Wanda, and you came with her as you tried to catch her.

“They trapped us-“ You tried to warn the others, but were cut off by more coughing, “We need help…” you began slurring your words as the world around you became dark.

The last thing you heard was a familiar voice behind you.

“We’ve got her.”


End file.
